Tilburg Law and Economics Center

TILEC supports and stimulates academic research on the governance of economic activity. It fosters academically path breaking and practically relevant research and aims to be a leading center worldwide.

Innovation is widely recognized to be the main driver of
economic growth. Yet, much remains to be learned about how the economic and
institutional environment affects the incentives to innovate. Although
competition in both R&D and product markets is known to play an important
role for innovation, open questions abound. It is not well understood to which
extent competition policy can and should take into account dynamic efficiency
concerns. Recent years have seen much debate about the functioning of the
patent system. Has it become an impediment to, rather than a catalyst of,
innovation? In high-tech industries, where products often combine multiple
components, the need for interoperability has enhanced the importance of
standardization. But how should the standard setting process be organized to
best promote investment in, and use of, technology?

The goal of this interdisciplinary conference is to bring
together economists and legal scholars in order to advance our understanding of
the relationships between competition, standardization, and innovation, as well
as their implications for public policy. It aims at fostering exchange between
the two disciplines in this field where complementarities between law and
economics are particularly strong. Papers need not display use of both legal
science and economics, but speakers will be invited to make their results accessible
to a mixed audience.

Research of the highest scientific or scholarly quality will be
selected, independently of the field of origin and methods used (theory,
empirics, experimental research, case study, etc.), provided it sheds light on
at least two, and preferably three, of the relevant dimensions (i.e.,
competition, standardization, and innovation).

Specific topics (non-exhaustive list)

The
relationship between competition and innovation

The effect of legal institutions on the incentives for innovation

The treatment of innovation incentives by competition policy

Competition policy in innovative sectors

The implications of big data for competition and innovation

The treatment of standardization processes under competition law

The treatment of standardization processes under international trade law

Institutional design of standard-setting organizations

Fair and reasonable terms for licensing standard-essential patents

Optimal design of intellectual property regimes

Alternative incentive mechanisms for fostering innovation

Scientific committee

Cédric Argenton (Tilburg University)

Jorge
Contreras (University of Utah)

Panagiotis Delimatsis (Tilburg University)

Lapo
Filistrucchi (University of Florence
and TILEC)

Damien
Geradin (Tilburg University)

Hanna
Hottenrott (TU Munich)

Martin
Husovec (Tilburg University)

Jay P.
Kesan (University of Illinois)

Tobias
Klein (Tilburg University)

Pierre
Larouche (Tilburg University)

Margaret
K. Kyle (Mines Paris Tech)

Patrick Legros (ULB)

Gerard Llobet (CEMFI)

Yann
Ménière (European Patent Office)

Matt
Mitchell (University of Toronto)

Nicolas
Petit (University of Liège)

Jens Prüfer (Tilburg
University)

Mark
Schankerman (London
School of Economics)

Moritz Suppliet (Tilburg
University)

Otto Toivanen (KU
Leuven)

Catherine Tucker (MIT)

Melissa
Wasserman (University of Texas at
Austin)

Format

The workshop will take place on 18 and 19 December 2017 and is
planned for two full days. Parallel sessions may be run, but most sessions will
be plenary. Regular presentations (25 minutes) will be followed by a discussant
(10 minutes) and public discussion (10 minutes). Keynote presentations (45
minutes) will be followed by 15 minutes of public discussion. There will be
plenty of time for informal discussion and social interaction. Speakers may be
asked to discuss a paper.

Registration fees and reimbursement policy

There is a EUR 200 fee to attend the conference (which includes
lunches, coffee breaks, and the conference dinner on 18 December). The fee will
be waived for speakers and discussants. In addition, TILEC will cover speakers’
and discussants’ accommodation expenses. A limited budget will be available for
funding of travel costs, upon motivated request at the time of submission.

Important dates

The deadline for speakers’ registration is 22 October 2017.

Completed drafts of accepted papers are due by 20 November 2017, and will be made
available for download on the conference website.

Presenting authors are expected to attend and participate in the
full duration of the conference.

Tilburg

Organizer

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Tilburg University is located in the southern part of the
Netherlands. Its campus, designed with a compact architectural concept in mind,
is set in gently undulating, park-like grounds on a forest edge. The compact
green campus of Tilburg University is, just ten minutes away from the city
center. Take a look around through our virtual campus tour!